Tolkien Society Presents: Hobbits! Rabbits!

Thursday 10:00 – 11:00, Capital Suite 2 (ExCeL)

How do children, young adults and adults experience The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings as books and as movies? Do people of different age groups experience them in different ways, especially given the range of other fantasy novels and films that younger generations have grown up with? How do readers engage with various decisions about the adaptation from book to screen? Are the rabbits welcome, or were they a mistake?

Autographing 2 – Michael Cobley

Friday 15:00 – 16:30, Autographing Space (ExCeL)

Banksian

Saturday 11:00 – 12:00, Capital Suite 9 (ExCeL)

‘Banksian’ has become a commonplace descriptor in SF reviews, but what do we mean by it? What are the characteristics we associate with Iain M Banks’ work? How far has his influence travelled? Who is writing Banksian SF today?

Let it be known that my publishers, Orbit UK, in association with the inestimable Forbidden Planet, will be having an Orbit Writers Signing event at Forbidden Planet, London, on Friday October 26th, at 6pm. And I will be there! – along with Kate Griffin, Benedict Jacka, and Charles Stross.

Just a leetle update on my activities at the Olympus eastercon; in addition to the 2 panels mentioned below I`ll also be taking part in Andrew J Wilson’s Last Man In Space extravaganza at 9.30pm, also on the Friday. And there is every chance that I shall be reading an excerpt from The Ascendant Stars, the concluding volume of the Humanity’s Fire trilogy,

Not only but also I shall be taking part in the multi-author signing melee-fest which is slated for 8pm on the Sunday evening. I shall, most probably, sign almost anything, and I will have some goodies to give away as well.

Just an addendum to the previous, tipping the wink to those who take notice of what I actually scribble on this here blog, that I shall have a handful or two of exclusive Humanity’s Fire-associated items to dispose of, limited edition trinkets to be presented to those who do bring me books to sign.

True, all true – as hinted earlier, I am now engaged on the writing of a new Humanity’s Fire novel, a standalone volume, entitled WARCAGE which will be published both in the UK and the USA. A watershed first for myself, without a doubt. And here are the links to my publisher, Orbit, and my agents, Zeno;

Well, here we are at the uttermost final hours of 2011, in some ways a pretty awful year (taking a political perspective) yet for yr hmble scribe it has been a bit of a watershed year what with the publication of The Ascendant Stars, the final volume of the Humanity’s Fire trilogy, which rounds off five years or so of dedicated hard work. The trilogy has also been published in Germany and France, and next autumn will appear in the USofA, from Orbit US, which is of course beyond splendid.

Curiously, however, here in the UK one almost gets the feeling that the book has appeared (as Harry Harrison used to say) under conditions of extreme secrecy. Well, okay, I exaggerate, what with the excellent review by Eric Brown in the Guardian back at the start of November, coinciding with its publication on November 3rd. Yet thus far, from the two main pop-SF magazine outlets, SFX and Scifi Now, not so much as a sniff of a review. Odd that.

On the other hand, Scifi Now Online did highlight the cover art for Ascendant Stars (by the very talented Steve Stone), and here is the link for your delectation:

Yes, at last I shall be making my Stateside splash with the Humanity’s Fire books in the autumn of next year, with the books appearing in October, November and December. I believe this is whats known as the Zeno 1-2-3!